In the Footsteps of Bezalel, Part 2

This and yesterday's post are from a sermon I preached last Sunday.

Stephanie invited me to come and share thoughts with you today about your theme for the next few weeks: Cultivating a generous heart and lifestyle.  Specifically, my part of the series is “the gifts of knowledge and skill.” 

We talk a lot in the church about spiritual gifts – Spiritual gifts are given by God to the church to be used in service.  Examples include faith, mercy, prophecy, discernment, and teaching – that’s just a small sample.  But spiritual gifts are little bit different than knowledge and skills.  Bezalel’s skills include metal work and design.  His knew how to build – what tools to use, and what would work and wouldn’t work.  I don’t want to get too hung up on the differences, except to say that we can work to increase our knowledge, and we can enhance our skills through practice. Spiritual gifts are a little bit different – they are a gift – not earned, not inherited, not gained through study, not passed down from our grandparents.  But I hope we can all agree that we are called not only to use our spiritual gifts, but also our knowledge and skills, in the work of God’s kingdom, and when we can, we are expected to build and enhance that knowledge and skills so that we can share them generously with each other.

So, what happens when we do?

Hear these words from Romans 12:1-8:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the encourager, in encouragement; the giver, in sincerity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

The book of Romans was most likely written by Paul in Corinth in 57 CE, as he prepared to return to Jerusalem.  I think the history of what was happening in Rome and the Christian church there is interesting.  The Christian Church in Rome was probably started by Jewish converts from Pentecost.  They weren’t a passive group, and in eventually, Claudius (the roman emperor) expelled the Jews from Rome.  When Claudius died, the edict the expelled the Jews died with him, the Jews returned.  They found the Christian church the had left in Rome was now very gentile in nature.  You can imagine the conflicts in this divided church.  Paul wrote the book of Romans to this church in the height of the tension.  He wrote to declare the reconciling nature of the gospel and of the power of salvation for both the Jews and the Gentiles.  

A church in conflict.  Hmmm.  Maybe we can find some parallels.

Paul calls on the members of the Roman church to offer themselves as living sacrifices.  Back when Bezalel was building the tabernacle, God was commanding his people to offer sacrifices – burnt offerings, grain offerings, peace offerings, offerings made with animals – the list is long.  But now, as Paul is writing, atonement has already been made by Jesus.  Paul is calling Christians to offer themselves as living sacrifices. Rochelle Stackhouse, in a commentary I read, said a living sacrifice means that we’re not just offering our emotional or intellectual assent to God – we’re offering everything – “This may mean we need actually to do things that will put us outside the norms of behavior for our society” she wrote.  

I think we hear the definition of living sacrifice most clearly in the Jewish Shema as told by Jesus in Mark: ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”  In other words – you are to give all that you are – including your mind - to God and to each other.

And here is the kicker – in the Romans passage, we learn that it requires the whole church.  Paul says, “For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.”

What else? 

In verse 3, Paul cautions the Roman Christians (and us also, I think), not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think.  He is leading us to humility.  

I remember speaking with a pastor once.  He had a small church in a small community; he was loved by his church and he loved them.  All of that was obvious.  That said, pastors are required to do continuing education, and he would not.  He couldn’t see the need for it.  He knew all he needed to know; classes wouldn’t help him.  I don’t mean to judge him, but in this one area, a very humble man thought too highly of himself.

Think of the ways we describe God – omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.  All powerful, all knowing, and everywhere.  I think when we think we know everything – when we close our minds to being taught – we step a little bit into the role of God.  We are not omni-anything.  Not thinking too highly of ourselves will open us up to not only learn more and practice more, but also to be open to what others can offer us when we share our skills.  When we, in humility, generously offer to the church what we know and what we can do, we open ourselves up to not only do God’s work in the world, but to find God in the world.

Next, verse 2 says, “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

I think this means that we have to approach learning, sharing what we know and what we can do with an open mind.  We can’t always assume that we know best – that we are right.  Even the concept of learning and teaching assumes that we do not know everything – especially, most certainly – we do not know everything about God.  It is beyond us – and it is another reason for humility.  

I think a closed mind cannot be renewed.  A closed mind cannot be transformed.  Do we love being right so much that we would lose the chance to discern the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect?

Years ago, when I was in high school, my youth group traveled to Texas to teach a vacation Bible school in El Paso to the children of immigrant workers.  Of course, adults came with us.  Each pair of youth was matched with an adult from our church.  Chris, my partner, and I, were paired with Coe Marsh.  I thought she was very old – she probably wasn’t, but it felt that way to a 17 year old.  She was definitely a grandmother at the time.  I look back now, and I am so in awe of her.  She and her husband left their homes for 2 weeks to travel with us and to be a part of what we were doing.  She offered what she had with grace and humility.  I watched her, from memory, restate the 23rd Psalm in words a young child could understand so that we could teach it.  She was a living sacrifice.

How can you follow in the footsteps of Bezalel and Coe Marsh?

• If you know how to use a hammer, find a Habitat for Humanity project or a neighbor who needs a ramp built.
• If you know how to teach, find some students.
• If you can bake bread, do it, and feed the hungry.
• If you can pray, start lifting your neighbors up to God.
• If you can create a spreadsheet, there’s a finance committee that needs you.
• If you can encourage, start spreading the good news that everyone is loved by God.
• If you can see the gifts and skills in another person, invite them into ministry.

We are the church, and God is calling all of us – each and every one of us – with open, transformed minds, to share what we have – to build the tabernacle with a generous, humble heart so that the thin places abound – and God is known to all of us.